The Washington Post revealed in an anonymously sourced report this week that U.S. officials had informed Sen. Bernie Sanders (VT) that his campaign for the Democrats’ presidential nomination is being aided by Russians. Now, everyone’s wondering who leaked that information — but President Donald Trump thinks he knows the answer.
According to the Washington Examiner, President Trump charged on Sunday that the source of the leaks is none other than House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Trump pins the blame on Schiff
Trump’s allegations against Schiff came during remarks with reporters as the president was leaving the White House for a trip to India.
Asked if he’d been briefed on the supposed assessment that Russia is trying to help the Sanders campaign, Trump replied, “Nobody said it. I read where Russia is helping Bernie Sanders. Nobody said it to me at all. Nobody briefed me about that at all.”
The president went on to assert that only “certain people have that information” — meaning the leak to the press likely came from within Washington. And Trump said that he knows the culprit.
“Adam Schiff and his group, they leaked it to the papers,” the president charged Sunday, according to the Examiner. “As usual, they ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information. He should not be leaking information out of intelligence. They ought to investigate Adam Schiff.”
Somebody tell Schiff “to stop leaking”
Trump’s assertion that he hadn’t heard about Russia’s attempts to help Sanders’ campaign come in contrast to the Post‘s report, the Examiner noted. The president also didn’t provide evidence for his claim that Schiff was responsible for the leaks.
Schiff denied Trump’s allegations in a tweet Sunday, according to Newsweek.
“Nice deflection, Mr. President. But your false claims fool no one. You welcomed Russian help in 2016, tried to coerce Ukraine’s help in 2019, and won’t protect our elections in 2020,” the California Democrat wrote. “Now you fired your intel chief for briefing Congress about it. You’ve betrayed America. Again.”
Never one to back down, Trump tweeted a response just a few hours later.
Somebody please tell incompetent (thanks for my high poll numbers) & corrupt politician Adam “Shifty” Schiff to stop leaking Classified information or, even worse, made up information, to the Fake News Media. Someday he will be caught, & that will be a very unpleasant experience!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 23, 2020
Indeed, while it can’t be said for sure whether Schiff is responsible for the recent leaks regarding alleged Russian interference in the 2020 election, the truth will come out eventually. And if President Trump is right, it looks like Schiff may soon be facing a day of reckoning.
At long last.
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